


Declarations

by alissabobissa



Category: Battlestar Galactica (2003)
Genre: Angst, Episode: s03e09 Unfinished Business, F/M, Pilots are love, this skips around in time a lot?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-08
Updated: 2019-09-08
Packaged: 2020-10-12 20:15:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20570240
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alissabobissa/pseuds/alissabobissa
Summary: I missed you. That simple admission was painful, but it was necessary and true.Lee and Kara hashing it out some after the Dance in "Unfinished Business."





	Declarations

**Author's Note:**

> Set after season three episode "Unfinished Business." Originally written in 2007, this was the second BSG fic I ever wrote.

_She laid there naked on the cool ground and giggled as he shouted to the stars.  
“My name is Leeeee Adamaaaaa! And I love Karaaaaa Thraaaace!” _

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Kara woke with a jolt. She opened her eyes and instantly forgot the dream she was having. She turned her head on the pillow and focused her eyes on the sliver of light barely making its way through the curtains in her bunk.  
  
“Umph, what the fr- oh, ugh,” she groaned quietly, and thought better of sitting upright too quickly. Her muscles ached, her head throbbed, and surely she would be able to bend her knees sometime today. “Gods, the Dance,” she whispered. Maybe she would just stay in her rack. There had to be plenty of plausible excuses she could use to get out of flying CAP. Yeah, sure, but half the crew went to the Dance last night; they’d all know why she couldn’t fly, and Starbuck was no wimp.  
  
Kara sat up slowly and grunted her tanks on along with her sweats. After a deep breath, she parted her curtains, swung her legs out over the side and touched her feet to the cold metal floor. How could things seem so much different in the morning? Her shoes were where she left them on the floor and she peered across the room as she put them on.

After all this time, she still instinctively looked at his bunk. Never mind that it hadn’t been his bunk for more than a year and a half now. Hell, her bunk wasn’t even really her bunk. At least two different officers had been assigned to that particular space across the room since she had gotten off of New Caprica, and she had forgotten if it anyone now called it “home.” There were just too many faces and names to remember this time around. The bunk was empty, but somehow she still expected to see him peacefully asleep there with the curtains open and an arm hanging haphazardly over the side.  
  
She stretched her sore muscles once she was out in the hallway and set out slowly on her morning run. If she was going to be Starbuck, she was going to have to go about Starbuck‘s business. Running had always been part of her routine on Galactica, and for a time it had been part of her routine with him. “Normal” had been a watchword after the exodus, and besides short hair and flying, running was normal to Kara.  
  
Kara had always liked Galactica best in the morning, just before everyone was waking up and getting to their posts. Everything felt like it was coming to life again, even without a sunrise. She could swear that the ship had a different sound that early in the day. The hum of the engines seemed lower, the rhythm not quite as steady and even. A battleship was never quiet, but life was still and uncomplicated at dawn.  
  
Lately she had been running long before most of the crew was awake. She was usually the first one out of the officers’ quarters and always found the head unoccupied. Having an early morning CAP or briefing gave her an excuse. She had even volunteered for some of those early shifts. It was peaceful when she ran, and she met very few people, not that Kara minded bumping into friends and coworkers. She grinned or waved at them all and had smart remarks for those she liked the best. However, lately she had been running early whether she had a shift or not and had adjusted her route to include the more deserted passageways in Galactica’s less trafficked areas. The solitude just seemed to suit her.  
  
Well into the first leg of her circuit, she rounded a corner and passed a few offices and private quarters. Kara had made it a point not to inquire about where Lee now lived with his wife, and she purposefully quickened her pace past the residences.  
  
Telling herself again and again that today was just like any other day was not working. Acting like it was no different than yesterday was helping, but not nearly enough. Her small world had changed and she had changed it. Kara Thrace had always been good at lying to herself, believing things that weren’t true or forcing things out that were. But last night damaged her ability to lie about at least one of those things, something she had been kidding herself about for years: Kara Thrace loves Lee Adama.  
  
_I missed you._ That simple admission was painful, but it was necessary and true. It was finally her declaration to him made loud and clear after years of teasing, jealousy, endless denials, and vague apologies that seemed to both drive them apart and push them together. But after everyone had wandered away from the ring and Cottle had patched them both up, some of the defenses she’d learned long ago went straight back up.

* * *

  
_They both had to squint through at least one swollen eye to see well enough to walk out of the infirmary. _  
  
“Looking good there, Apollo,” Kara said laughing.  
  
“You should see the other guy.” Lee was making his usual obvious jokes and Kara smiled.  
  
“Some Dance.” He paused and let the comment linger a little too long. “So, you headed back to the bunkroom?”  
  
“Yeah. You going home?” He nodded and smiled as he opened the hatch and held it open for her. She frowned at him and hesitated before walking through the doorway and into the corridor.  
  
Lee followed Kara, and they walked in silence through the corridors, glancing awkwardly at each other from time to time like nervous teenagers on a first date. When they reached the passageway marked at the end by the senior officer’s quarters, they stopped. This was the end of the line, and they both knew it. Lee opened his mouth to speak but closed it just as quickly to look down at his feet. Something needed to be said, but neither of them really knew what that was. When he lifted his head, Kara caught in his eyes that determined and hopeful look he sometimes got that always scared her just a little bit.  
  
“Kara, I – ”  
  
“Let’s just not,” she cut him off. “Okay? Let’s not ruin it.”  
  
He stared at her and smiled softly. “Sure.” And then he leaned in and kissed her. The kiss was more than a little painful considering the night’s activities, but it was also soft, sweet, and brief, like a promise. Kara responded before she really knew what was going on, and while she was still registering that it was actually happening, Lee had broken the kiss and was walking away. He put his hands in his pockets and grinned as he walked around the corner out of sight, never turning around to see Kara’s shocked smile or her hand resting on the wall for support.

* * *

  
Now on an upper deck, Kara slowed her pace as she ran past CIC. This was one of the few areas of heavier traffic that she included on her run. Sure she ran into more people up there, but she liked to see Galactica’s brain while it was relatively calm, and she didn’t mind the regulars. The night shift was still on, but she knew that the Admiral was a notoriously early riser and always went in first thing. Of course she hadn’t had a proper conversation with him since he knocked her on her ass and called her cancer. At the time, she was more than angry, but mostly at herself. His disappointment in her was something she had never been able to bear and about the only thing that could have hurt her enough to motivate her to get back her life. It was the small, familiar gestures, words, or smiles that told her now they were okay, she was his daughter again. The morning before, he had teased her about her reputation for being tardy and warned her to be on time for the Dance. She had laughed and said she couldn’t make any promises, and he decided that it just wouldn’t be a Galactica Dance if Starbuck showed up on time.  
  
Sure enough, as she reached the end of the hallway, the Old Man came around the corner. His walk was slower than normal and somewhat strained. His fight with Tyrol had been difficult to watch, and he and Kara now had matching strips of tape across their noses.  
  
“What do you hear, Starbuck?” he asked, wiping his glasses on his jacket.  
  
“Nothing but the rain, sir.”  
  
“Well, then grab your gun and bring in the cat.”  
  
“Wilco, Admiral.” They shared a smile and he nodded before heading into CIC. That little exchange had always been their declaration to each other, but it was not the first.

* * *

  
_Kara did not want to go to Zak’s funeral. She wanted to stay in her apartment with the covers over her head for as long as she could. It was bad enough that her superiors put her on duty the day after it happened. It’s not like they didn’t know. She was pretty sure that Major Reynolds at least knew. He had caught her sitting in Zak’s lap in a simulation plane after hours that night about a month before. Maybe everybody knew – not that it mattered now.  
  
Kara had went to work like a good soldier, and she had managed to pull it together when his father showed up. He had been built up in her mind to be this fearsome, giant of a man from all the stories Zak and Lee used to tell her about him. They both clearly worshipped the guy, no matter how much Lee might deny it, and just from the way Zak’s voice changed slightly when he spoke of his father, Kara knew that making him proud was all Zak wanted to do. So when she saw him walking towards her, she didn’t expect him to look so small and gentle. He wasn’t a god, just a man. She thought he would be angry and larger than life, so his kindness and quiet understanding overwhelmed her. She didn't deserve his kindness, and he was the Adama she didn’t want to face today at the service.  
  
Kara got out of bed and took a quick shower. She found her dress uniform under a stack of old _Pyramid Weekly_s in her closet and smoothed it out as best she could before putting in on. She looked at herself in the mirror and took a deep breath. All she had to do was keep breathing for the next two hours. _

_  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
After the service, Kara felt drained, but she caught Lee’s eye and he managed a weak smile before leading his mother away from the crowd. She stood near a tree, and Commander Adama walked up beside her. They looked at each other and then stared at the ground for a moment.  
  
“I spoke with Major Reynolds and Colonel Kline,” he said softly. “They’ve agreed to let you attend two months of grief counseling sessions with a Dr. Latham instead of being brought up on charges. The Major wanted me to remind you that they take fraternization very seriously here, but they know you’ve been through a lot.”  
  
“Thank you,” was all she could say. She couldn’t tell him that her superiors had been trying to get her to see a psychiatrist since her first year - something about “anger problems" and “authority issues.” Or that nearly anytime she got a citation, she had the choice between seeing a shrink or a stint in hack. Of course, Kara always chose the trip to the brig. She just smiled at him when he put his hand on her shoulder.  
  
“Call me in a couple months and we’ll talk more. You know, if you need a change, _Galactica_ can always use another good pilot.” _

_~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~_

_  
Kara saw Dr. Latham four times a week. Honestly, the shrink really wasn’t as bad as she expected, but he did annoy her on principle, and his demeanor shredded her nerves. No human being was that calm all the time. If she had known, she might have suspected that he was a Cylon. Although Kara thought he pulled most of what he said out of his ass, he never once made her talk about her mother and he always waited for her to bring up Zak.  
  
Latham gave her homework assignments, which she resented because she wasn’t told therapy would be a class. Was she being graded? He assigned books for her to read that were mostly touchy-feely, self-help books designed to guide the reader through life as a more emotionally open and expressive person. Kara thought she expressed herself fine, just more with fists than words.  
  
She actually read the book he himself had written more out of curiosity than any real desire to learn. She wanted to prove that he was full of shit. The book's main idea was about what constitutes family and how people express love, commitment, and partnership in relationships. She read the first chapter and immediately did not like it.  
  
“So let me get this straight, Doc. You think that people do or say things to each other that somehow proves their ownership of the other person? That’s kinda sick,” Kara said during one session.  
  
“No, Kara. It’s not about ownership. It’s a romantic or familial declaration or acknowledgement, if you will, that people make to one another that says ‘we belong to each other’,” Dr. Latham replied.  
  
“Yeah, ownership. Like I said. Nobody owns me but the Colonial government, okay? I think there might be a seal stamped on my ass somewhere.”  
  
“No, no, no. Kara, listen to me. This declaration is more a statement of equality, safety, and belonging. The pronouncement itself could be as simple as actual words, an action, a feeling, or a symbol. However it’s done, the transmitted feeling is of security and love that says ‘we are each other’s and this is home.’ Now surely you have felt this at some point in your life.” She didn’t answer directly, but kept arguing with him. No matter what she told him, his ideas sunk in and she thought about them even after her sessions were over and she was packing for her post on the _Galactica_. _

* * *

  
Kara ran past the Mess and saw only a handful of people getting breakfast. She never could eat this early, so she skipped breakfast most days. She was looking too closely for anyone she knew and almost bumped into someone as she passed the doorway. Colonel Tigh didn’t seem to be startled by their near-collision. She knew their differences were becoming fewer and farther between these days, so she didn’t stop to chat. He simply nodded at her and ducked out of the room.  
  
Before she entered the service, Kara wouldn't have taken Dr. Latham's ideas seriously. She would have said, “I belong to no one, no one belongs to me.” A uniform, fast planes, and a few friendships had changed all that. She knew the military was her family the minute she put on a uniform and that a viper was her home the first time she sat in a cockpit. She was reborn as Starbuck into a family that not only accepted but valued her.  
  
Then there was Zak and he was her home. She had no reasonable explanation for why she broke all the rules for him. Maybe it was his eyes, or his hands, or his mouth. Maybe it was because when he said she was beautiful, she actually believed it. And when he said he loved her, it was in a casual, downright airy way. His nonchalance never felt like confidence to her, it was more about him being comfortable in his skin. He even asked her to marry him as if in passing. The question had a contradictory tone that sounded as if it didn’t really matter all that much but that it was already a done deal. Maybe she fell in love with him because he seemed to have only a casual interest in her at the start, like he didn’t care if she said no and reported him to their superiors when he asked her out for a drink after class one day. His manner might have been light, but his declarations were real and everything to Kara.  
  
With Zak gone, family and a place to belong had taken the form of William Adama for Kara. He had grabbed her hand at Zak’s memorial service, and that simple act made it clear to her that she was his for life, that this Adama would always be there for her. Holding on to his hand gave her comfort and a sense of warmth she had long ago given up on ever feeling again. It was the hand of a father she was missing.  
  
The memories she had of her own father were vague and ones she had tried to push away when she realized she would never see him again. She remembered him humming to her and scooping her up in his arms to spin her around. “You like that one, Kar-Kar?” he would ask. If she shook her head no, he would spin her around and around, faster and faster until she squealed with delight and they were both laughing. She only ever let him call her Kar-Kar, and it was theirs and theirs alone. She knew she belonged to him when he used her special name, and that’s what he called her the day he left.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Kara was running down around the hangar deck now and nearing the end of her loop. She loved the smell of grease and fumes that always lingered in the hallways there. She stopped and jogged in place for a moment before deciding to go out onto the deck and find the chief. She wanted him to look at the left wing of her bird, but she was immediately distracted by the sounds of an argument below her. From the overhead walkway she saw a deckhand throw a wrench and heard it clang across the deck.  
  
“My name is Hensen! Not Harris! And I’m a specialist!” he yelled. It hit her then, in the way he said “name," what she had been dreaming about just before she woke up. She was reliving her night with Lee in dreams a lot lately, and at some point during the day the realization that she had dreamt it again would cause her a momentary pang of regret.  
  
The night of the groundbreaking had been wonderful and awful in so many ways. Mostly it reminded her that Lee, right from the start, was always going to have a bright, shiny future no matter what they had drunkenly said to the contrary. She knew that he was always going to rise to the top and go all the way in the military – like his father. The commander’s pin he wore and the pride that showed on his face at receiving nods of respect from passers-by proved to her that he was where he was meant to be. He was born to be a soldier and a leader whether he believed it or not.  
  
As much as she loved military life and flying vipers, Kara knew she would never rank all that high. She did not have any ambition for command, nor did she care about success like Lee, and, truthfully, she preferred being just officer enough. All she really wanted to do was fly.  
  
Somewhere in her mind she always knew that if Lee was moving up, she would weigh him down like so many nights when he was the more sober one and had to practically carry her drunk ass out of a bar. At the Academy it was different for them. They didn’t have careers or obligations. They were just two pilots flying planes and trying to go as fast as they could. Their friendship was not without mutual benefits; Lee helped her make the grade, and Kara introduced him to the brig. Respect and competition fueled them, and they pushed each other to work harder and go faster. They became thought of as a unit. No one talked about Apollo without at least mentioning Starbuck, and no one recounted a crazy story about Starbuck without pointing out Apollo’s role in the incident. They were something together that they weren’t apart. And after the Academy, they would never be equal. He would always be above her and she would always hold him back.  
  
Waking up in his arms that morning on New Caprica made her recognize that she had always been more than a bad influence on him; she was the worst part of him. She had looked at him as she dressed and had seen what their life together would be. She would be a cancer that would slowly eat away at everything good he had inside himself, probably killing him -- but not before making his life a living hell.  
  
She couldn’t make him less of the person he was then or now. It scared her to think of him that way, but cutting him out of her life was like cutting off her hands. They were a team, and she needed her hands to fly. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Kara left the hangar deck without finding Tyrol and began making her way back to her bunkroom. Damn it, she kept thinking about that kiss the night before. It had stunned her and really put her off her game. She had stood in the corridor outside the bunkroom for nearly ten minutes before someone came along and she was forced to finally go inside.  
  
Throwing people off was _her_ thing. Her reputation for being reckless and unpredictable made it easy to intimidate almost anyone. She was disarming and could spin a person’s head around until they couldn’t tell which way was up. These qualities served her well at the triad table and even kept her little game with Baltar interesting for a while. It was a rare person that could rattle her or knock her feet out from under her, but Lee was an expert and had been doing it since the day he met her.

* * *

  
_Lee climbed out of his viper red-faced and dripping with sweat. The runway was concrete, and the hot sun’s bright reflection on it made him squint to see his classmates standing in a group near the hangar. They were all talking with hand-waving gestures and laughing, no doubt, about the day‘s flying. Lee quickly pulled the top half of his flight suit to his waist and strode toward the group. _  
  
_“Where is he? Where the frak is that newbie in viper 23?” he bit off, barely containing his fury. Before anyone in the now silent assembly could answer, Lee saw the ship in question and its jockey climbing down the ladder across the runway. “That bastard is mine!” he breathed._  
  
_ It was common knowledge amongst Lee Adama’s classmates, Kara later learned, that he rarely got worked up over anything. He never got in bar fights, had a heated dispute at the triad table, or even complained when he challenged a teacher and they refused to see his point. Lee was known as the level headed one, easy going even - when he didn‘t act like he had a stick up his ass. He was the guy to break up a fight or prevent one from starting. Every problem had a solution that could be reached through words. He was that guy when it came to anything but flying a viper. It was more than competitive to him. It was like he took flying too personally. For Lee to be as angry as he was, something planet-shaking had to have happened in the sky. Today that something was maybe the biggest thing that would ever happen to him. It was something that would change him forever. Today that something was Kara Thrace._  
  
_ Kara ducked under viper 23 to check some hot hoses and wires. Her little stunt had blown a few gages, and she knew it would cost her. She looked up as she heard footsteps fast approaching and realized she was still wearing her helmet._  
  
_ “Who the hell do you think you are?” a man was yelling. At her?_  
  
_ “Gods, you must have a pair the size of regulation pyramid balls! What the frak made you think you could pull that kind of maneuver and not almost kill me?!”_  
  
_ Yep, at her. The man was clearly angry, but his voice almost had a tone of admiration to it, like maybe he wanted to hit viper 23’s pilot and then buy him a beer. Almost. “Come on out and face me, you smug frakkin’ bastard!”_  
  
_ By this time, the group of chatty cadets had moved over behind Apollo to see the show. Kara slowly backed out from under her viper, turned around, and pulled her helmet off to reveal a head of messy blonde hair that didn’t quite reach her shoulders. She smiled confidently, and Lee looked momentarily shocked to see a woman standing before him. It was thanks to either his manners or his anger that somehow he recovered quickly enough to replace his open-mouthed expression with that of a tight-lipped, pissed off pilot._  
  
_ “Ya know, I think I got most of that, but what with the helmet and all…” she trailed off. "Bad habit," she added giving her helmet a little twirl and toss before catching it. “I’ve been called ‘smug’, and I can probably agree with that, but ‘bastard’? I think that’s you, flyboy,” she said walking right up to Lee._  
  
_ “My call sign is ‘Apollo.’ I don’t remember getting yours,” he sneered, stepping closer to her._  
  
_ “It’s ‘Starbuck’.” She paused and stared at him for a moment. “So it was the great Apollo I blasted out of the sky today. You know you really shouldn’t tempt the Gods by taking their names.” Then she leaned in and whispered, “You’re just asking for trouble.”_  
  
_ “Not that you care, but I was given the name. I didn’t choose it for myself.”_  
  
_ “Oh Gods,” she groaned. “Don’t tell me some little groupie who couldn’t get enough actually called you that? Hey, specialist?” she mock-called to a nearby crewman. “Get me that bucket over there. I think I’m gonna to hurl.” She looked right at him and the other cadets laughed, but Lee just glared. “What? I got it wrong?”_  
  
_ “Wouldn’t you like to know?” Kara didn’t react, but the cadets “ohhhed” and Lee raised an eyebrow and grinned triumphantly. All evidence to the contrary, she really did want to know. Frak him if she would ever admit it. “Where’d you come up with ‘Starbuck’ anyway?”_  
  
_ She smiled and challenged him with her eyes. “It’s kinda obvious, don’t ya think?” she drawled. He stared at her a moment, considering. She smirked, then he smirked too and looked up at her Viper, biting his lip._  
  
_ “I’ve heard about you,” he said returning his gaze to her face. “Starbuck the Rebel. Viper jock extraordinaire. You’re sorta famous for screwing up. And you’ve got quite a following with the lower level cadets. Say, aren’t you level two? Whatcha doing up here with the big boys?”_  
  
_ She decided condescension did not suit him._  
  
_ “Well, for one: beating your sorry, level three ass.”_  
  
_ “Trying to kill me by showing off is more like it.”_  
  
_ “You’re just mad that a level two girl beat the mighty Apollo at combat drills.”_  
  
_ “No. I’m furious that you clipped my wing when you came up from behind me in an impossible and illegal maneuver that could have killed us both!”_  
  
_ “Awww, that’s sweet of you to care about my safety, but next time,” she said lowering her voice and gritting her teeth, “just worry about my gun on your ass.”_  
  
_ Lee chuckled and looked around at the other cadets before settling his gaze on the woman in front of him. “Boy, I was right. Big as pyramid balls.”_  
  
_ Starbuck leaned in until her face was inches from his. “Take a good look Apollo, ‘cause I’m more man than you’ll ever be,” she said in a low voice._  
  
_ The cadets that had all but formed a circle around Starbuck and Apollo took a collective step back. These two were either about to frak or fight, and while no one wanted to miss either, they sure as hell didn’t want to become collateral damage. Given what they knew about Starbuck’s violent reputation and Lee’s viper-related rage, what happened next surprised them all._  
  
_ After just staring hard at one another for about a minute, Lee’s lips slowly began to curl up into a smile. Kara followed suit and soon she was giggling as he tried to suppress his panting laughter. Apparently the ridiculousness of the situation appealed to them both, and they laughed harder and louder. Barely able to breathe and unable to stop herself, Kara fell forward having to put her hand on Lee’s chest to brace herself._  
  
_ “Whoa there, Hot Shot,” Lee laughed as he grabbed her shoulders with two steadying hands. “You gotta compose yourself if you want to be on my squad for combat formation drills.” And that’s when it happened. The thing Kara wasn’t looking for or expecting. The thing that threw her completely off balance: he winked at her. Gods, those blue frakkin’ eyes. It wasn’t a conspiratorial wink, but a flirty, hey-do-you-know-what-‘on-my-squad‘-really-means wink._  
  
_ Kara went stiff and quickly gulped down her laughter. She pulled away from his grasp and looked down. When she pulled her head up to meet his eyes, there was a fire in hers and Starbuck was back. She cocked an eyebrow and grinned. “Who said I want to fly with you anyway?” If she had faltered, no one seemed to notice. Especially not him. So she laughed again and shot him a wicked grin before addressing the group. “Oh, that’s right. I’ve seen how the rest of you frakkers fly. They didn’t skip me a level to fly with amateurs. I’ve got a ‘special aptitude’ and I plan on making the most of it.” She turned back to Lee and threw an arm lightly around his shoulder. “I think I’ll stick with the Golden God over here. He was the only one of you up there today worth beating. He actually knew how to handle his bird.” And just like that, with a look between them, they were a team. Unstoppable, inseparable, and better together than apart (not that they were much apart). They became the envy of every cadet at the academy, and their flying was what the instructors called “instinctive synchronization” and what their classmates called “orgasmic.”_  
  
_ The group of sweaty, tired cadets broke up and walked away grumbling or laughing. Starbuck let her arm drop from Apollo’s shoulder and they walked together toward the hangar._  
  
_ “Don’t get a big head about this or anything, but we are soooo gonna to kick their asses,” she said grinning up at him._  
  
_ “We’re gonna kick everyone’s asses.”_  
  
_ She laughed. “Damn straight.”_  
  
_ “So, are you gonna tell your new partner how you pulled that Stronach maneuver so close to me without putting your Viper in a wipe-out spin?”_  
  
_ “Got any cigars?”_

* * *

  
The end of the world, two promotions, marriage and a few extra pounds didn’t make Lee any less of a bastard in her opinion. Of course, now she couldn’t help but love the bastard. Really, she always had.  
  
With them, she had always just assumed that their declarations were in the way they fought and the way they flew together - things they could do best only with each other. But maybe it was in their acknowledged silences or all that they left unspoken because when they said things out loud the words were just too thick, too heavy for either of them to handle. Maybe it was more in comfortable touches, the kind they never thought about. A touch on his arm, a hand on her shoulder, a playful shove or swat, or a reassuring hug. Yes, it was how surely they held on to one another. She felt like she still had her arm around his shoulder, like it had been there all these years. And every time he threw her off balance, he was standing in the sun winking at her.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  
Kara came to a fork in the passageway. Almost home. She took the right one and around the corner she found him standing near a hatch with a clipboard in his hand. _Oh, here we go_, she thought. She slowed to a walk and stopped beside him.  
  
“I figured you’d at least sleep in today, Captain,” Lee said smiling, not taking his eyes off the clipboard.  
  
“Starbuck doesn’t sleep in or take a day off, Major. Besides, gotta keep the nuggets on their toes.”  
  
He laughed and looked up at her for the first time. She noticed the cuts on his face and his now black left eye, and she frowned. Lee stared at her for a moment and hung the clipboard on the nail beside the hatch. He slowly raised his hand and she winced as he gently touched the tape on her nose. “You know I scheduled you for third CAP today, and I made the briefing this morning only for the raptor pilots. You can relax for a while if you want,” he said softly.  
  
“You didn’t have to rearrange my shifts. I can - “  
  
“Yes, I did… if I wanted you to fly with me today.”  
  
She was momentarily surprised at his audacity. This was twice in two days. “The great Apollo wants me on his squad? I’m honored,” she said sarcastically.  
  
“Just be there on time. Do I need to make a ship-wide call so you’ll remember?”  
  
“Oh, I’ll be there. It’s not everyday a girl gets to fly with the CAG.”  
  
Lee smiled and took a few steps in the direction from which she had just come. He turned as her passed her. “I gotta get to the Ready Room for that briefing, but I’ll have Gaeta pass the word around 1500. Does that work for you?” He grinned at her and walked off.  
  
Kara stood there smiling a moment and watched him retreat. Who had won this round? And who exactly were they today? Pilot and CAG? Starbuck and Apollo? Or Kara and Lee? Maybe a little of everyone. Whoever they were, they were friends.  
  
When Lee had gotten to the end of the hall, Kara suddenly realized that the Ready Room was in the other direction. She quickly jogged up behind him and goosed him as she ran by. He stopped in wide-eyed shock and she turned as she passed him to say, “Ready Room’s the other way, Major.” She kept going around the corner and smiled to herself in victory. _Thank the Gods_, she thought. Starbuck could still mess with his head.  
  
“Oh frak!”  
  
Kara stopped abruptly and stood in the middle of the passageway. She could see where the corridor had joined another and formed a wide hallway ahead. Lee was out of sight around the corner, and maybe if she waited a minute she could put enough distance between them. Maybe he would never know. She would have laughed if it weren’t so stupid.  
  
Kara turned around and took two deep breaths before running around the same bend she had come around a few minutes before. She hesitantly looked up and was not all that surprised to see him. Lee was standing by the same hatch, but this time he was leaning against the wall with his arms crossed, grinning and waiting for her.  
  
“Going my way?” he asked as she walked up to him.  
  
“Looks like.” They set off down the corridor together, walking side by side.  
  
“Good. At least we’re going in the same direction.”


End file.
